A first rosé from 1 Mill Road

Photo: Katie Truscott and Ben Bryant in 1 Mill Road cellar

Under new ownership since last summer, 1 Mill Road Winery, the Naramata-based Pinot Noir boutique, has begun to expand its portfolio with the release of a 2022 Rosé. The winery was established by David and Cynthia Enns, the former owners of Laughing Stock Vineyards, which they launched in 2003 and sold to Arterra Wines Canada in 2017. They moved to a five-acre property near Naramata where they had planted a vineyard exclusively with Pinot Noir. Since the first vintage in 2018, 1 Mill Road Home Block Pinot Noir has established itself as one of the Okanagan’s premium Pinot Noirs.

The winery was purchased last summer by Ben Bryant, an Australian-born winemaker, and his partner Katie Truscott, an Okanagan-based wine marketer. “We posed a question two or three years ago to David and Cynthia to ask if they were interested in selling,” Ben told me in an interview in September. “Katie is in a tasting group with Cynthia. It was Christmas last year [2021] that Cynthia rang and asked if we would still be interested.” 1 Mill Road had become available because David and Cynthia have their hands full running Naramata Wine Vaults and the Naramata General Store.

“This was a dream business model,” Ben said of the winery. “David and Cynthia have built this business from the ground up with the right mindset. Everything has been done to a level. It is not as if you have to reinvigorate a business; you don’t have to invest a lot of money in repositioning a brand or a product. All of that foundation has been built. Now, it is evolving it to the next chapter.” Ben and Katie bought 1 Mill Road’s 2020 vintage, which was already bottled, and the 2021 vintage, which was still in barrel. They also leased the Home Block Vineyard. Because 1 Mill Road’s production ranged between 500 and 1,000 cases a year, they have begun to contract grapes from other growers. The Pinot Noir for the rosé is from a vineyard in East Kelowna, which also provided the fruit in 2022 for a Chardonnay which has not yet been released.

“We want Pinot Noir to be one of the key varieties and we want to introduce Chardonnay as well,” Ben said last September. “They are two varieties that we love drinking and that we love making. At the end of the day, we are drawn to the region. I stayed in the region instead of going back to Australia. I came here because there was absolute potential in the wines. I still believe that. This is our chance to be part of the community and the region. Find unique sites of Pinot Noir and of Chardonnay and bring them to life.” Ben is a 2005 winemaking graduate from Charles Sturt University, Australia’s leading wine school. He came to the Okanagan in 2018 to become the chief wine maker at Mission Hill Family Estate.

By then, he had acquired a remarkable resumé in the Australian wine industry. He had become the chief winemaker in Australia for Pernod Ricard Winemakers, with a portfolio of brands including Jacob’s Creek, St. Hugo and Wyndham Estate. “Ben also completed a placement in Hong Kong as International Brand Development Director with a premium portfolio, providing valuable experience in understanding the global consumer,” a Mission Hill spokesman said at the time Ben was hired. With that track record, why did he come to the Okanagan? “To me, it is endless opportunity that is untapped,” he told me at the time. He clearly still believes that. He left Mission Hill several years ago and currently is managing western Canada operations for Andrew Peller Ltd. – the day job that supports his venture into 1 Mill Road. Katie’s day jobs include sales manager for Kitsch Wines.

1 Mill Road’s winemaking and barrel cellar are in one pod of the Naramata Wine Vaults. All the other pods in this facility, a former fruit packing house, are leased to various wineries for product storage. Currently, 1 Mill Road does not have a tasting room but the wines are available through the website and to a long restaurant and retail list, as shown on the winery’s website. Here is a note on the rosé. Katie writes: “The wine is available first to our Allocation Members, then, quantity dependent, becomes available to previous purchasers and finally list subscribers. A select number of cases will go to a small number of wine lists and private liquor stores in BC.”

1 Mill Road Pinot Noir Rosé 2022 ($38 for159 cases; sold in six packs). The wine presents in the glass with a delicate pink hue. Aromas strawberry, raspberry and orange peel are echoed on the palate. Some 18% of the wine was fermented and aged three months in a seasoned oak barrel, with bi-weekly lees stirring. That has given the wine a fine textural backbone with a bit of grip. The wine is dry but finish lingers on the palate. This is an excellent food wine. 92.